When it comes to working as an independent or agency recruiter, timely candidate submissions are always required to earn a fee. Depending on whether you work with your client through a Vendor Management System or off-line, you may encounter specific challenges when sending candidate resumes and summaries to hiring managers. Regardless of your agency's internal process, you may be left with a submission that is never opened or received on a timely basis.

What can recruiters do to ensure their candidates are received, acknowledged and reviewed on a prompt basis? Is there a way to automate the entire submission process, and speed up the receipt of feedback from the client?

Have you heard of the Recruitment Marketplace--RecruitAlliance? If you're new to staffing and recruiting, or have not been looking at new ways to build a better agency, a Recruitment Marketplace is a virtual tool that connects employers with fee-eligible job openings to third-party recruitment agencies for the purpose of filling jobs faster and more efficiently. Agencies can generate more fees quickly, while hiring organizations can access top talent in the most effective manner possible.

One of the main benefits search firms find in leveraging recruiting marketplaces is they can automate their candidate submission process. The way this works is the recruiter logs in to their Vendor account using their unique user name and password. They access the job order posted by the client they want to fill, and click on the submit candidate button. The recruiter completes a brief submission form, attaches the candidate's resume, and adds any additional documentation they want the employer to review that further markets the applicant. Once everything is complete and uploaded, the recruiter simply clicks the submit button--and their candidate has been successfully delivered to the employer.

When you think about it, using a Recruiting Marketplace provides additional benefits that are not available when working directly with clients. The platform tracks and manages the candidate submission. This means once the candidate has been sent through the marketplace, both the recruiter and the employer receive an instant email notification, confirming the submission. This confirmation is both date and time stamped, preventing any potential future disputes of candidate ownership. Staffing agencies will continue to receive automatic updates, as their candidate(s) moves through the evaluation and review process, conducted by the hiring company.

Better yet, once a candidate is moved to 'accepted' status by the employer, the recruiter receives the contact information of the hiring authority, and may reach out directly to schedule candidate interviews or ask questions. The only time the recruiter may not reach out to the employer is prior to them reviewing and accepting the candidate. In the event the candidate is rejected (meaning they are not qualified for the position submitted for), the recruiter would not have access to the employer's name, phone number or email address. This streamlines the employers' process for working with external recruiters, and ensures they are more promptly connecting with those agencies who produce results.

According to the American Staffing Association, the staffing industry generated approximately $122 billion in sales in 2013: 109.2 billion from Temp/Contract Staffing, and 13.1 billion in search/permanent placement services. Based on this data alone, we know there is a lot of opportunity in the recruitment field; but it's also a profession in which you can expect fierce competition.

How can your firm catapult itself ahead of your competitors, to gain a larger slice of the revenue pie? What steps should you take, to become the preferred agency in your vertical?

1. Choose a niche, and choose it wisely. Working as a search professional requires that you focus. What industries are hiring today, and more specifically, what specialties within those areas are employers struggling to hire? Do your research and determine what makes the most sense, based on current needs and your understanding of the space. It's important to look at the average fees within your chosen field, too. If fees are declining in your current target, look at other areas that are emerging and increasing. Be strategic, perform due dilligence, and select a niche that offers growth potential.

2. Create, implement, and utilize a marketing strategy for your recruiting business. As the old saying goes, "Recruiters don't plan to fail, they fail to plan!" Do you have a marketing plan you're following on a day to day, week to week, and month to month basis? Are you regularly measuring the success of your marketing activities, and are you realigning those activities as necessary to ensure business increases? In order to move ahead of the competition, you have to focus on marketing as a daily activity. Some areas to analyze for marketing include social media sites, LinkedIn Groups, the company blog, Google Adwords, etc.

3. Take the consultative approach with clients and candidates. Many recruiters treat the talent acquisition process as a transactional activity. Do what your competitor's are not, and serve as a trusted advisor and their 'go-to' professional. Not only does this set you apart from others, but it builds strong, loyal business relationships that will continue to work for you, in the future.

4. Focus on the candidate experience. Have you ever encountered a candidate who refused to work with a head hunter? They'd rather fill out a web application and wait an extended time to hear back from HR (if ever) than work with you - all because of a bad experience. Treat your candidates the way you would expect and want to be treated. It's simple and powerful. When candidates have a positive experience, they share that information with their friends and colleagues - giving you a steady source of referrals and essentially separating you from other agencies.

5. Become a one-stop shop. Does your firm offer additional services besides perm placement? When a client asks if you can provide a candidate for a temp assignment, do you turn them away? In today's market, it's important to determine what services your current and potential clients need, and then deliver them. Otherwise, you open youself up to losing that client to someone else. Forward-thinking staffing and search firms provide additional services such as temporary and contract placements, talent community management, consulting services, video candidate interviewing, and more.

Notice we've not addressed fees as part of this conversation. When you differentiate yourself from other companies, you set the standard and increase the value of the services you provide. You can gain access to full-fee jobs with some of the top Fortune 500 companies, with no additional business development required. Learn more.

Competition in the talent acquisition arena continues to grow, and economic indicators show that isn't likely to change in the near future. Recruiters and search professionals who want to outshine the competition must stop doing what everyone else is, and implement positive changes to differentiate themselves to increase and exceed their revenue goals.

Networking with other recruiters to successfully complete more placements, is one of the most basic and fundamental ways to rapidly increase your annual billings, with limited additional effort. Some search professionals avoid performing 'splits' because they have concerns of unethical behavior by other partners, they fear the possibility of being cut out of the deal, or they previously had a bad experience with another individual or agency.

How can talent acquisition specialists effectively leverage split job networking, avoid the risks commonly associated with split job partnerships, and how can they effectively increase this revenue stream to best grow their business?

Here are five essential tips to help you take your split job strategy from idle to overdrive in less than 24 hours:

1. Only work with split partners who you've had an opportunity to screen and qualify.
Let's face it....by sharing your job order or candidate with another recruiter or agency, you are potentially opening your business up to potential risk and loss. You have to take precautions to protect your client and candidate from the very beginning of the partnership. Properly vetting and reviewing the credentials of prospective split job partners up-front, can help prevent you wasting time and money.

2. Always ensure your split fee agreement is complete, and signed by both parties before conducting business.
Remember to come to terms with all facets of the contract before disclosing information about your client and/or candidate. If you aren't able to agree on terms, continue your search for new split partnerships.

3. Discuss and implement a schedule for feedback.
When you're working with a split partner, you should expect to have access to obtain feedback on a timely basis. This allows both parties to mutually fine tune the search, and move closer to a potential placement. If either partner takes issue with connecting on a regular basis or as needed, reconsider the value of the split partnership.

4. Set up a system to track all candidate referrals and the activity of your split partners.
Working as a split job partner, whether you are the Job Order Recruiter or the Candidate Recruiter, requires staying organized and on-top of the activity. Providing prompt feedback can be challenging when you've lost track of candidates. Keeping on top of which candidate was referred to which split partner can become daunting, too. Make sure you can track, manage and measure the activity of your split partners, at all times.

Did you know.....SplitAlliance, powered by RecruitAlliance, can optimize your split job networking capabilities. This platform was designed by recruiters-for recruiters and addresses important concerns, such as:
~providing access to a network of screened and qualified split partners.
~allows members to seamlessly track and manage split relationships.
~automating your split recruiting efforts, saving you time and money.
~allows you to generate a quality pool of candidates in the shortest amount of time.
~empowers recruiters to work on more recruiting projects - simultaneously.
~enables your business to expand into new industries, niche markets, and serve more geographical areas.
~providing a viable alternative to hiring a team of recruiters, and the expenses associated with growing your agency.
~dual membership in RecruitAlliance provides you with access to new clients-with no cold calls or additional business development efforts.

Split job networking, done the right way, is one of the most profitable revenue streams in recruiting. By becoming a member of an organization like SplitAlliance, recruiters can easily remove the pitfalls associated with performing splits, and quickly begin making more placements.

The recruiter with the best candidate has always been the winner in the staffing and recruiting world. To attract A-class candidates, talent acquisition specialists must differentiate themselves from their competition, or risk not producing the best results for their clients.

Be Responsive. No recruiter should expect a candidate to trust them if they can't get answers to their questions or concerns on a timely basis. Think of how frustrating it is when a candidate won't return your call or email. Create a positive experience for yourself and your candidate by making yourself available on-demand.

Manage your candidates' expectations from the beginning. During your initial conversation, and in each conversation or email thereafter, set-up your relationship to succeed by being upfront and honest about how your process works. You may not have the ability to control a candidate, but you can gain the candidate's trust and build rapport by setting parameters up from the beginning.

Regular communication is key. Recruiters don't have to spend endless hours "touching base" with their MPCs, but they should have a process in place to stay connected and engaged. Sending a weekly email, a quick SMS message, or a personal message on your candidates' preferred social network are all important ways to stay in touch, without picking up the phone.

Another way for staffing agents and recruiters to create an extraordinary candidate experience is by successfully placing them as quickly as possible. RecruitAlliance is an additional outlet to ensure you place your MPCs faster and more efficiently. Agency recruiters can sign up for a 30 day test-drive here.

Working with third-party recruiting/staffing agencies and search firms is often an overwhelming process for hiring managers and human resources departments. The problems in working with headhunters involves fielding all of their calls and emails, accepting their contingency contract terms and fee, and having the ability to measure the success of each individual agency as needed throughout the duration of the business relationship.

You receive a call today from an independent recruiter in California who has a candidate that has identified your company as a "target employer," and is ready to make a move immediately. This individual is the perfect match for your opening. In order for you to set up an interview and see the candidate, your director and hiring policies require the recruiter's contingency agreement be approved through your legal department; which can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. How can you get around this issue, and hire this shining candidate?

What if you set the terms of the recruiting agreement, and headhunters agree to your terms prior to submitting their best candidates?

It makes sense for the hiring organization, on both a budgetary and process improvement basis, to set the terms of every recruiting agreement. This is the most effective means to manage costs, and engage search professionals for prompt results. How can an employer accomplish this goal?

How does a hiring manager best evaluate the perfromance of its search vendors, to maximize the relationship?

In order to successfully manage multiple recruiting agencies and obtain a 360 degree view of candidate submissions, interviews initiated, second meetings scheduled, candidates hired, and time to hire, it is essential for organizations to have access to on-demand reporting. To remain competitive and hire the top talent that will advance your company, you must position yourself to keep working with those external recruiters who produce results, and leave the non-performers behind.

One solution helps employers accomplish all of these challenges, seamlessly.

RecruitAlliance has been helping hiring organizations tackle the issues mentioned, since 2001. Referred to as "the most powerful recruiting agency vendor management systems today," RecruitAlliance is one web-based platform that allows hiring authorities to manage costs, improve internal processes, and analyze results - at no additional cost.

To schedule a complimentary demonstration of this web-based platform, visit their Employer page.